image: The high spectral resolution lidar separates Mie and Rayleigh scattering signals based on an iodine filter. view more
Credit: ©Science China Press
This study is led by Dr. Wei Gong and Dr. Feiyue Mao from Wuhan University. The authors conducted simulation and retrieval for the spaceborne Aerosol and Cloud High Spectral Resolution Lidar (ACHSRL) of China to investigate its potential preliminarily. The ACHSRL is currently under development and scheduled for launch in the near future.
Clouds and aerosols can significantly affect global climate change and atmospheric environment, and observing them three-dimensionally with high spatial and temporal resolutions is a long-standing issue. Spaceborne lidars are effective instruments for the vertical detection of clouds and aerosols globally. Numerous Mie scattering lidars were successfully launched and widely used, such as the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and Geoscience Laser Altimeter System. However, the retrieval of Mie scattering lidar data is an ill-posed problem that introduces a large uncertainty. The ACHSRL of China attracted extensive attention because it can separate Mie and Rayleigh scattering signals and avoid ill-posed retrieval.
The authors carried out the simulation and retrieval for ACHSRL. Firstly, this study found that the uncertainty of aerosol depolarization ratio is one of the main error sources of the traditional method for backscattering coefficient retrieval, and the influence of Poisson noise may cause the backscattering coefficient to be overestimated, and potential correction schemes are proposed. Secondly, this study investigated the feasibility for improving the accuracy of extinction coefficient retrieval by first retrieving the layer integrated lidar ratio and then retrieving the extinction coefficient profile, and the influence of the uncertainty of the iodine filter transmittance on the retrieval. Finally, the simulation and retrieval of ACHSRL are carried out based on the atmospheric parameters measured by CALIOP, and the application potential of ACHSRL on real atmospheric conditions is discussed. This research is useful for the development and application of satellite lidars in the future.
See the article:
Mao F, Luo X, Song J, Liang Z, Gong W, Chen W. 2022. Simulation and retrieval for spaceborne aerosoland cloud high spectral resolution lidar of China. Science China Earth Sciences, 65(3): 570–583, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9842-x
https://www.sciengine.com/publisher/scp/journal/SCES/65/3/10.1007/s11430-021-9842-x?slug=fulltext
Journal
Science China Earth Sciences